Spell Release 4
“What in the world...”
“Are you telling me what I just saw was real?”
“How can a boy that young possess such overwhelming presence...”
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen of Mount Hua had been drowning in helplessness ever since the mysterious man appeared. They could not move. It was as if their bodies had been locked in place; the man’s aura alone pinned them down so thoroughly that they could not so much as twitch.
If the demonic cultivators had not stepped in, it would have been over. The enemy had been a master of the Extreme Demon realm, and the mission to kill Hwaseon would have ended in failure.
Yet the young demonic cultivator had slain the man. Even after being swallowed by an unfamiliar sorcery he had never seen before, he had not lost. No one could know what had transpired inside that pitch-black space. The only certainty was that the young demonic cultivator had won—and that no more enemies remained in this place.
Meanwhile, Shin Gi-woon had emerged from the darkness yet still did not move. The man’s final words kept circling through his mind.
The man had clearly asked whether he was obstructing their plans again. He had even called him the last spearman of the martial world.
The moment those words reached him, something clicked. The Shandong Yue Family, famous for their spear arts, had been wiped out not long ago. One black-path spear sect after another had vanished as well. Every single one of them had been a group that specialized in the spear.
Is there something tied to the spear itself?
Shin Gi-woon stared blankly down at the White Fang Spear. Come to think of it, he himself had been snared by the Heavenly Net under the absurd charge of “eating dumplings.” There must have been a reason they needed him dead; that was how he had always viewed his own death. But after hearing the man’s words, he began to look at it differently.
What if, to Cheongung, some spearman existed as their natural counter, and because they could not identify that person they had simply massacred every spear user they could find?
That would explain why the man had used the word “spearman.” At the same time, it gave a possible justification for his master’s disappearance.
Shin Gi-woon had been diligently learning under his master when, in a single instant, he had been abandoned—left with nothing but a single scrap of paper. He had never gone looking. He had already learned nearly everything there was to learn, and his master had always been the sort of man who chased sudden whims; he had simply assumed the man had wandered off in search of some new amusement.
But what if that was not the case? What if his master had been fighting Cheongung all along, delaying the day they would fully reveal themselves to the martial world for as long as possible?
The mystery of his master’s vanishing suddenly acquired a reason. It was still a half-baked theory, of course. Yet no trace of his master had ever been found anywhere.
Did he truly die?
“Young hero. On behalf of every Plum Blossom Swordsman of Mount Hua, I offer our deepest gratitude. I am Myeong-seol.”
“Call me Un. More importantly... we should leave this place first.”
“Why...?”
“It seems my companions are still fighting hard. You should all return to your sect.”
When Shin Gi-woon spoke with such cutting firmness, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen reacted with visible discomfort. No matter that he was a master of the Extreme Demon realm, he was still a child—and above all, a demonic cultivator. Myeong-seol, however, faced reality.
Sect Leader Hwajin had been strangely passive about deploying the Plum Blossom Swordsmen. Something had clearly changed after he met that so-called “guest.” Myeong-seol had noticed it early and had guessed there might have been some deal connected to these people. The guess had been wrong, yet he still took a step back.
“Young hero Un. We have a duty to remain aware of any calamity that befalls Mount Hua.”
“...If you will not withdraw, then you will have to bring me down first.”
Shin Gi-woon’s eyes briefly flushed crimson. It was a final threat. The Plum Blossom Swordsmen’s hands drifted closer to their sword hilts.
In that razor-thin moment, Myeong-seol let out a long sigh and lowered his head.
“Plum Blossom Swordsmen. We withdraw.”
“Senior brother!! Withdraw?!”
“We still have not killed Hwaseon! If we retreat like this, the honor of the great Mount Hua Sect will—!”
“Honor be damned! You are proper disciples of Mount Hua! Clashing with Young hero Un here is utterly pointless!”
A glint of interest flickered in Shin Gi-woon’s eyes. This Myeong-seol fellow had decent judgment. Mount Hua was not filled only with fools, it seemed. At his words the other Plum Blossom Swordsmen lost their fighting spirit. He even held the trust of his subordinates. Shin Gi-woon rather liked him.
Making nothing but enemies in the martial world is not a good idea either.
Originally he had planned to kill every last Plum Blossom Swordsman. The Nine Great Sects were members of the Martial Alliance, after all. But he changed his mind.
The Mount Hua Sect had been hunting Hwaseon, a Cheongung agent. That alone proved they had no connection to Cheongung. And if the leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen had moved, the sect leader’s order must have followed. Therefore the sect leader of Mount Hua was also unconnected to Cheongung.
The Demonic Cult and Mount Hua—two groups that could never truly coexist. Yet when pursuing a common enemy called Cheongung, perhaps they could join forces.
With that thought, Shin Gi-woon sent a telepathic message to Myeong-seol.
He did not wait for an answer. He simply launched himself into the air. It was not a matter of life and death measured in seconds, but it was still urgent.
Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul had been caught in something called Spell Release.
Shin Gi-woon himself could unravel such sorcery in moments thanks to the All-Power Realm, but the two women possessed no such ability. There was no telling what state they might be in. They would not fall easily, of course. Hwaseon was already a wreck, while the two of them were nearly at full strength. Whatever Spell Release truly was, both of them had reached the Transcendent realm. They should be able to hold out long enough.
“They’re coming!!”
At Bi So-hyang’s signal, Sama Yul kicked off the ground. By a hair’s breadth a blood sword smashed the spot where she had just stood.
There was no room to relax. Blood swords were being generated endlessly, and while Bi So-hyang was warning Sama Yul, dozens of them converged on Bi So-hyang herself.
A storm of thirty arrows, each carrying its own qi, shattering blood swords in mid-flight.
Bi So-hyang unleashed thirty arrows at a speed that seemed almost possessed. Each arrow, charged with qi, smashed a blood sword apart. She did not stop there. With a sweep of her hand as though commanding an army, the arrows regained their power and began dismantling the rain of blood swords once more.
The sight was as graceful as a beautiful dancer. Sama Yul’s movements, by contrast, were tyrannical. After dodging and shattering dozens of blood swords, she realized that each one possessed a core—a blood flower. The blood sword was simply a long extension grown from that blood flower. Sever the central flower and the sword vanished on the spot.
Sama Yul’s eyes gleamed with cold light. Hitting a core was nothing difficult for her. Her recovery rate for thrown weapons already approached ninety percent.
Pii-pii-pii-ping!
She sent a hidden weapon into every single blooming blood sword. Every one of them pierced a blood flower clean through. The blood swords lost all power and fell limply to the earth.
Watching this, Hwaseon ground his teeth.
Damn it. Why is this happening?
Blood Blossom Heaven.
It was the Spell Release Hwaseon employed—manifesting a space filled with plum trees dyed in blood, then creating countless blood swords from the blood flowers to annihilate his enemies. He had rarely had the chance to use it, yet once activated it was supposed to be the ultimate technique that could kill any foe with ease.
But it was not. Hwaseon could only stare as his Spell Release was being dismantled right before his eyes.
An assassin who had already found the weakness of the blood swords, and an archer who loosed arrows faster than the swords could fall. The two women were dismantling Blood Blossom Heaven in completely different ways. Hwaseon’s eyes turned a deep, blood-red as rage overtook him.
“How dare you! How dare youuu!!”
As his emotions surged, the color of the blood flowers grew turbid. Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul noticed at once, exchanged sharp grins, and closed the distance to stand together. Fighting side by side would be far more effective than being picked off one by one.
“You felt that?”
“Yeah.”
“We move fast. If he steals the initiative, we lose.”
“Obviously.”
Bi So-hyang and Sama Yul stamped the ground in unison. Their vast qi briefly made the blood swords tremble. Sama Yul rose into the air and planted the sole of her foot against Bi So-hyang’s right arm; Bi So-hyang’s internal energy then launched her with full force.
Kwaaaaa!!
Sama Yul shot through the sky at terrifying speed. Hwaseon, panicking, tried to manipulate the blood swords—and in that moment the truth was proven.
A martial artist who had opened a Spell Release could do nothing but maintain the Spell Release. He could never grip a sword and swing it himself.
“Haaahp!”
“Guhk!”
Sama Yul’s short blade carved open Hwaseon’s side. Bright crimson blood sprayed through the air for only an instant before the already-turbid blood flowers turned completely black.
“You little bastards, how dare youuu!!”
“Nice work.”
Clang!!
At that very moment someone smashed through the Spell Release and stepped inside. Hwaseon’s eyes met those of the newcomer.
It was Shin Gi-woon. He took one look at Hwaseon, who was already on the verge of collapse, let out a long sigh, and said,
“Just sleep for now.”
“Keuk!”
He smashed the shaft of his spear into Hwaseon’s temple.
Baaang!